Miami Bar Breaks Snoop Dogg's Record For Making World's Largest Gin and Juice Cocktail

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A converted dunk tank became the cocktail glass for the world's largest gin and juice drink.

Sweet Liberty

No one can sing ‘Gin & Juice’ like Snoop Dogg, but his Guinness World Record for building the largest gin and juice cocktail was shattered this Sunday in Miami.

Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Co. bar captured the record by pouring 320 liters of Waterloo No. 9 gin, 160 liters of fruit brandy, 120 liters of orange and grapefruit juices into a cocktail glass that was a converted dunk tank. It was filled with 50-pound, crystal-clear ice cubes, and it was garnished by floating pineapple and orange slices and an actual umbrella. “It was enough gin and juice to fill a six to eight person Jacuzzi,” says Nick Nistico, bar manager.

Sweet Liberty’s late owner John Lermayer came up with the idea of chasing Snoop Dogg’s record. Lermayer had read a story about Snoop Dogg stirring up the largest the largest gin and juice cocktail back in May during the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival. “He said ‘Let’s go after Snoop Doog and beat the record,’” Nistico says. “It was just a simple comment, but then we talked about it more and more.”

Snoop Dogg’s record was 577 liters, and the team at Sweet Liberty decided to aim for 580 liters. Nistico and his staff, who were awarded America’s best bar team early this year by Tales of the Cocktail, decided to definitely go after Snoop Dogg’s record after Lermayer died of a brain aneurysm in June. “We had a tragedy when we lost John along the way, and we thought we should go after this for our three year anniversary,” Nistico says.

The bar team at Sweet Liberty poured in gallon, upon gallon of juice, plus huge fruit pieces, to build the world's largest gin and juice cocktail.

Sweet Liberty

Going after a Guinness record isn’t a simple affair. “They require a lot. It is a 50-page booklet of requirements and questions and pre-planning, and we didn’t get our final approval until just a few weeks ago,” Nistico says. “One of the most difficult parts was doing the surface area math to calculate the cocktail.”

A team from Treaty Oak Distilling flew in from Texas to help build the cocktail, and a local team from Kennesaw Juice also was on hand to help pour in the juice.

Dozens of people helped pour gin into the world's largest gin and juice cocktail.

Sweet Liberty

The actual record won’t go down in the Guinness Book of World Records until Sweet Liberty’s process is reviewed. “For Guinness, we have to document the entire thing through photos and video, and a couple of individuals who can sign off on weight and value,” Nistico says. “We have an architect, a general contractor, an engineer and an amateur boxer. We figured a boxer knew all about boxing weigh-ins, and then we have a bartender as well. Then we submit everything to Guinness and cross our fingers.”

All of the proceeds of the event, which haven’t been completely calculated, will benefit Lermayer’s son, Nistico says. Hundreds of people drank the cocktail after it was poured. “One of the Guinness rules is that it has to be made for consumption so everyone who was at the event got a chance to drink some gin and juice with us,” Nistico says.

Sweet Liberty isn’t the only bar chasing a Guinness World Record for a gin cocktail this week. On Wednesday, in Phoenix, Sheldon Wiley, director of beverage for The Maggiore Group, is seeking to build the world’s largest negroni, by filling a 500-liter oak barrel at The Sicilian Butcher with equal parts Carpano Antica Formula, Malfy Gin Original and Campari. The cocktail will take 504 bottles, make 132 gallons or 16,722 ounces of negroni.

Wiley holds three other world records: most cocktails made within one hour with a gun, most cocktails made within one hour, without a gun; and most cocktails made within one minute. Part of the proceeds from the $5 negronis tapped from the barrel will go to the Pearce Family Foundation, a local nonprofit committed to financially supporting bills at the home for families who have a child suffering from a chronic or life threatening illness as they get back on their feet.

I'm an award-winning writer and author of ten books, including the critically acclaimed Drink Like A Woman. I'm currently writing two more drinks books on cocktails and hard cider.